FIDE clamps down on fake events

3/2/2006 – Remember the fictitious "Heroes
of Chernobyl" tournament we reported on last year? At the time the
organisers and FIDE vowed to take stern action against the unfortunate practice
of inventing tournaments for the purpose of enhancing ratings or awarding titles.
Now they have, with more or less draconian penalties.

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FIDE
Gens Una Sumus

Decision of the Ethics Commission on the complaint of the German Chess
Federation against IM Miroslav Shvarts.

The Ethics Commission received a complaint from the German Chess Federation
against IM Miroslav Shvarts concerning a GM norm he said he received in the
Kali Cup GM tournament held in Mindzentkalla Hungary in February 2004. This
was a double round robin event. As this was IM Shvarts 3rd GM norm, he notified
the German Chess Federation that he was applying for the GM title.

The ratings officer of the German Federation, Mr. Christian Krause, became
suspicious of the GM norm Mr. Shvarts received in Kali. Mr. Krause then notified
the Hungarian Chess Federation (HCF) of his suspicions, and the Hungarians
duly conducted an investigation. Quoting from a letter sent by the HCF to
FIDE can best summarize the results of the investigation:

Departmental investigation of these cases started immediately, which resulted
as follows:

Tournament indicated by you named Kali Cup GM 2004 was a complete fraud
(Italics mine). Such an event did not take place. Disciplinary Committee
elected by the GA of HCF has taken the following disciplinary measures.

IM Istvandi, Lajos organizer of the event in question has been forbidden
to organize arbitrate and to participate in all chess events for two years.

IA Fazekas, Gyorgy who contributed creating the report for the request of
the organizer has been forbidden to arbitrate at any chess event for one
and a half years.

As can be seen, according to the HCF investigation, the Kali cup never took
place. Therefore the Ethics Commission has decided to apply sanctions against
all the participants in the tournament not just Mr. Shvarts.

An exception has been made for GM Nikolac, who has consistently maintained
that he never participated in the tournament, and was seen in Germany during
the time that tournament was supposed to have been played.

Two and a half years suspension from tournament play beginning March
1, 2006:IM Miroslav Shvarts

The Ethics Commission feels that Mr. Shvarts deserves a harsher penalty than
the other players for the following reasons:

Mr. Shvarts was the primary beneficiary of the tournament, receiving his
third and final GM norm.

Mr. Shvarts statements about his involvement in this tournament were misleading.
For instance in a letter to FIDE dated August 18th 2004 Mr. Shvarts stated,
“In February 2004 I achieved a GM norm at this tournament (Kali Cup) The
title certificate signed by the arbiter, Mr. G. Fazekas, and by Mr. Zoltan
Ambrus of the Hungarian Chess Federation.

At a special hearing held by the Ethics Commission at last year’s FIDE
Congress in Dresden Mr. Shvarts stated that he now realized the Kali tournament
was fraudulent, but did not realize it at the time of the event. The Commission
found his testimony unconvincing.

Mr. Shvarts was president of the regional chess federation in the Federal
Republic of Saxony, in Germany. In such a position, he should set a better
example for the local players.

Two and a half years suspension from arbiting or organizing tournaments.IM Lajos Istvan
IM Gyorgy Fazekas

The Commission is of the opinion that the seriousness of their offences warrants
a harsher punishment for the organizer and arbiter than that imposed by the
Hungarian Chess Federation.

See also

11/28/2018 – The moment we've all been waiting for! Live games (for Premium members) from the 2018 World Championship match in London. Every two games will be followed by a rest day until Game 12 (if necessary) on November 26th which will be preceded by an additional rest day. All rounds start at 15:00 UT (London time) / 16:00 CEST / 10:00 EST. If needed there would be a rapid tiebreak match on Wednesday, November 28th. | Photos: Patricia Claros

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Video

The Elephant Gambit (1.e4.e5 2.Nf3 d5!?) has never really been given the attention it deserves. It is a very useful surprise weapon. Let us list the advantages of playing this particular opening: 1) Shock value 2) It is very aggressive. Black can take over the initiative early. 3) Many tricky lines 4) Unorthodox. Black is basically taking the game to the opponent as early as move two. Not many openings do that! It's a perfect opening for young players and club players to adopt. Let Andrew Martin select a repertoire for you on this 60 mins, which, if used with discretion, will rack up the points. I am sure that you will enjoy this unusual tour of the Elephant Gambit.